Lender HSBC posts its results for the first quarter, with analysts expecting it to show a strong start to the year amid a cost-cutting programme intended to keep its European business in profit. HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said the group would seek a further US$1 billion in annual savings this year after cutting 3,100 jobs in Britain last month. More job cuts are expected to be announced shortly.

US steps up diplomatic push

US diplomatic efforts related to two of the most troubling situations in global geopolitics are stepped up. South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, makes her first visit to Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama expected to centre on North Korea. Meanwhile, the crisis in Syria is expected to be top of the agenda for US Secretary of State John Kerry as he makes his first visit to Moscow since taking office.

Plans for China-South Asia Expo announced

Vice-commerce minister Chen Jian and Yunnan vice-governor Gao Shuxun reveal plans for the first China-South Asia Expo in Kunming , which will begin on June 6. The forum reflects growing trading links between South and East Asian nations. A Boao Forum-sponsored study released last month found that South Asian countries' trade with the rest of Asia has risen from barely 40 per cent of total trade in 2004 to more than 51 per cent in 2011.

Conference on rebuilding Somalia

The future of troubled Somalia is on the agenda at a conference in London, jointly organised by the governments in Britain and Mogadishu. Britain has taken a leading role in international efforts to help rebuild Somalia from its prolonged conflict. The international conference will concentrate on security and finding ways to prevent international finance to Somalia from being diverted.

WTO names new leader

The World Trade Organisation is expected to announce who will succeed Pascal Lamy in its top job. Two representatives of Latin America, Mexico's Herminio Blanco and Roberto Azevedo of Brazil, are among the leading candidates in a field of nine. The body's new director general will be faced with the challenge of breaking a 12-year impasse in international trade negotiations while tackling concerns such as China's protectionism and quantitative easing in Japan and the United States.

Last stop for Occupy Central roadshow

Academic Dr Benny Tai Yiu-ting holds the last in his series of public forums on the Occupy Central campaign for universal suffrage at the University of Science and Technology tonight. It's the seventh such forum Tai has put on since he announced his campaign, which could see 10,000 protesters block roads in Central next year unless an acceptable plan for universal suffrage emerges.